Kelsey Konecky

Classroom Management Plan

1. Management Style and Philosophical Beliefs
I believe that it is important for teachers
to have classroom management skills because
without them youre likely to waste valuable
instructional time on problems and situations
that arise from student misbehavior. I think
that good classroom management skills can
actually prevent much of this student
misbehavior from occurring in the first place,
but even when it still happens, good
classroom management can help to lessen the
impact that it has on the classroom as a
whole.
I think effective classroom management
comes from developing relationships with your
students and collaborating to create a
classroom environment that is conducive to
learning. I think that relationships and collaboration are key because at
the high school level students want to be respected and often react
better when they have some influence on the rules, rather than just
having rules imposed on them. As Curwin Mendler & Mendler put it in
Discipline with Dignity It becomes part of the school fabric when they
are viewed as partners in creating and sustaining the school climate,
rather than simply being recipients of adult efforts. If there is respect
between the students and the teacher, and the students understand
why the rules are what they are, I think there is a much better chance
for a classroom with fewer prolonged behavior problems.
Along these same lines, I view my job less as being the sole
creator and enforcer of all rules in my classroom and more as a
facilitator. By the time students reach high school they generally know
what is to be expected of them in the classroom. I view my role as
facilitating the development of a classroom culture of respect. This
however doesnt mean there will never be consequences or that
students wont need reminders of what they should and shouldnt be
doing, but the focus for me is more in helping them to need me less by
gaining a sense of responsibility. As Curwin Mendler & Mendler depict
it, behaving responsibly is more valued than behaving obediently.
(p. 29) I want my students to be people who dont just do what I say
because I say it, but understand why the rules of our classroom are
important and why they should follow them.

Because of these beliefs, my classroom management style would

be to get to know my students, treat them with respect, and work
collaboratively with them to build a better learning environment.

2. Establishing a Positive Classroom Culture

I think one of the most important things that I can do to build a

positive classroom culture is to get to know, and interact with my

students. I chose this get to know you beginning of year survey as an

artifact because this would help me identify ways in which I may be
able to connect with my students as well as what sort of things
motivate them. I would also plan on greeting my students as they
come into the room each day and engaging with them about topics
that interest them when opportunities arise.
2. Developing Classroom Rules and Procedures
I would use the first day or so of the school year to introduce my
students to the classroom and have them work together to develop
classroom rules/values. That could be something as simple as students
proposing rules for me to write on the board to create a list that we
could all agree on, or if students are having difficult coming up with
ideas they could work in smaller groups first before we come together
to finalize and if I think it might lead to a more productive conversation
I could even start with an example set of rules and have students add
to or amend it.
The rules students develop would be centered on the classrooms
expectations for student specific behavior. Meanwhile I will reserve the
right to adjust these if it becomes necessary and I would have my own
policies regarding specific non-negotiable items such as academic
dishonesty. For this instance, my policy would be that any plagiarism or
cheating (on tests or quizzes) will receive no credit, however students
may redo the work/retake the test to receive partial credit (up to 75%).

http://twolivecolorfully.com/2013/08/26/thems-the-classroom-rules/

4. Classroom Layout

http://classroom.4teachers.org/
My ideal classroom (for ESL) would have student tables or desks
pushed together to form groups, which would encourage and help
facilitate small group discussions and collaboration. I put a few
computers on one side of the room because I would hope to have
access to computers for small groups of students to utilize programs
like Rosetta Stone, a variety of reading development programs, and for
practice in developing their writing using Microsoft Word. I also set a
few chairs around the classroom because I want to encourage my
students to develop both their reading skills and a love of reading. I
also included a few bookshelves, which would house leveled books for
my students use as well as a collection of file folders for them to keep
their portfolio of completed works. Finally, I placed my desk near the
front of the room so that the resources I need during teacher-directed
class activities will be near the front and accessible, while during
independent activities such as reading, group work, or computer time I
would still be able to easily monitor everyone from my desk when Im
not up and walking around.

5. Monitoring the Classroom and Responding to Student

Misbehavior

The main strategy I will use to monitor student behavior is to

spend my time walking around the classroom, rather than sitting at my
desk grading papers, lesson planning, or otherwise amusing myself.
When I see students who are not doing their work, not paying
attention, talking if they arent supposed to be, are on their phones,
are otherwise distracting others or are not on task I will follow the
above hierarchy of responses. I think its important to not jump to
extremes in redirecting student behavior. I rarely think that yelling or
an immediate detention would be necessary or beneficial, rather I think
that in most cases, small problems can be taken care of quickly and
quietly with a nonverbal warning or at times a gentle verbal reminder. I
imagine that the majority of my responses will fall under these two
categories while continued problems will result in an after-class or after
school discussion of the behavior, an appropriate consequence, and
possibly a plan to do better in the future. The involvement of parents
or administration are responses I would use only in cases of more
severe behavior problems or problems that continue consistently
across more than just a few days.
My aim, when I have to administer consequences, will be to do so
fairly. To me this means that I will not be using any one size fits all step
system of consequences. I will tailor my consequences more to the
student, their action, and the situation at hand. I will also attempt to

involve the student in this process, giving fair choices when I can and
asking for their input as to what they we can do in order for them to
behave better in the future.
6. Parents as Partners
Since there can be language difficulties involved in
communication with the parents of ELLs my approach may vary based
on the language groups Im working with and the language resources
that my school/district has available. In any case, I can use websites
like http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/letters/, of which there are a
few, to send home some necessary information about the school,
fieldtrips, detentions, and certain other incidents. In addition to this I
can send home short letters with the students to share with their
parents about what were learning in class this month/unit.
The main way that I plan to incorporate parents into the
classroom, beyond any parent volunteers to help with fieldtrips, is to
occasionally assign student homework that requires them to interview
their parents, talk about their home culture, country, and family. I will
also be sure to send home explanations and reminders of parentteacher conferences with my students because this is often the best
time to talk with parents who are not English proficient as the school
will have translators on hand if possible at that time.
Ex of a fieldtrip permission form in Arabic (followed by the English
translation):

(from: http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/letters/)